Promises Kept
by CelticGrace
Summary: Lucy Shepard lost everything when the batarians raided Mindoir. But what she gained afterward, she wouldn't trade for anything. Pre-ME1 through Post-ME3. Rated M for language, violence, etc.
1. Chapter 1

**Beta: pixelatrix  
Bioware owns the Mass Effect universe and all its characters. If you don't recognize a character, it's probably mine.**

* * *

Her father stumbling through the living room in a drunken haze was what woke Lucy Shepard nearly every morning. How he managed to get up and go out to work on their farm, she'd never figured out. But every morning, he did just that. And every evening, he would go into town and get slobbering drunk before coming home and crashing on the couch.

Today's _wake-up call_ was different. It was earlier than usual and it wasn't her father that woke Lucy, but her older brother Kevin as he threw open her bedroom door.

She blinked a few times to clear her vision and squeaked as he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out of bed.

"We have to go. Now."

"What's going on?" she asked thickly, catching the clothes he tossed in her general direction.

"Batarians. They're in the town, but they'll be at the farms soon enough. Hurry!" With that, he ran from the room. As she exchanged pajamas for a t-shirt and the sweatshirt and jeans and pulled on a pair of boots, she glanced at her alarm clock.

It wasn't even 11 pm.

"Hurry up, Lucy!"

She ran out into the living room as Kevin was loading one of his heavy pistols. A second one lay on the shelf in front of him. "Where's Dad?"

"Where d'you think?" He shook his head. "He was still in town. Sent me a message."

"Was?"

Kevin shoved one of the pistols into her hands. "It's a damn slave raid. How long you think he's gonna last out there?"

"He's a soldier, Kevin."

"He _used to be_ a soldier," he corrected. "Now he's just a drunk who pretends to be a farmer."

She glanced down at the weapon in her hands and back at him. "What the hell do you want me to do with this?"

He took the gun back for a moment and wrapped his arms around her. "Go. Run as fast as you can, anywhere that's not... here."

"That didn't answer my question."

He gently kissed her forehead and pressed the gun into her hands again. "Shoot anything that moves, that's not me or Dad. That's not... human."

"Where-"

There was a crash as the front door was smashed open.

"No, Lucy. Go. Now!" He spun her around and shoved her out of the back door and into the darkness.

She stumbled a moment and ran headlong into an armored chest. She looked up and screamed as the four-eyed alien staring back at her easily grabbed the pistol from her and threw it across the yard. He reached out, grabbed her by the throat and lifted her a few inches off the ground. He squeezed hard, causing a talon on the thumb of his gauntleted hand to slice into her neck. Before she could do more than grab his arm with both hands, a bullet caught him in the side of the head and he fell to the ground, taking Lucy with him.

She struggled a moment to dislodge the talon from her neck but finally freed herself and scrambled to her feet. As she fumbled in the dark for the pistol, she looked around for the shooter, but found no one in the area except the dead batarian.

_What the fuck?_

As soon as her hand closed on the cold metal of the gun, she started running. She didn't know where she was going, or how long she ran. She just kept going until her lungs felt like they were on fire.

When she stopped, she was at the treeline bordering the back of the family farm. Figuring the trees would make a good temporary cover, she stumbled on a bit further before collapsing against a large fir tree. She slid down the trunk to the ground, clutching at a pain in her side as she gasped for breath.

She could still hear the explosions and gunfire in the distance, mostly in the direction of the farms. But the relatively early time meant there were a few people left in town and she knew the batarians were likely still there as well.

She closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on something else, _anything_ else, that would take her mind off of the horror of slavers and the cut on her neck, which apart from being painful had started to itch. But all she saw was the bullet going into the batarian's head. She couldn't help wondering who the hell had shot him. When this was over, if she managed to get out alive, she intended to find them and thank them.

Endless hours passed. Lucy jumped at every twig that cracked, every animal noise. But eventually, fatigue set in and she passed out. She woke to the sound of voices nearby. Her grip on the pistol tightened instinctively as she opened her eyes and saw flashlights entirely too close by for her to feel safe in her current location. She hadn't seen a single human since Kevin had pushed her out the door and she wasn't at all optimistic at the chances of these being human either.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a ping on her omni-tool that echoed loudly in mostly silent woods. She looked down at the message and her hand flew to her mouth to stifle a cry of surprise.

_If you are still alive, tell me where you are so I can find you. -Uncle Steven_

It had been years since she'd seen her uncle, not since her mother's funeral when she was ten. He had stayed with the Alliance after the First Contact War, was now an Admiral and if Kevin was to be believed, he cared more about his career than his family.

And yet now...

She sent a quick reply:_ I'm in the woods behind the farm. -Lucy_

As soon as she hit send, she heard a second ping not far off, in the direction of the flashlights and voices. Suddenly, one of those voices started calling her name. She tried to get up, but her legs refused to cooperate, giving out almost immediately, and she fell back against the tree.

"I'm over here!" she called out as loudly as she dared, still not quite wanting to believe the lights and voices belonged to humans. One of the lights broke away from the rest and started towards her. As they got closer, she couldn't help the feeling of dread that swept over her, that she'd made a mistake and now she was about to die just like everyone else.

The voice behind the lone flashlight was calling her name again. And this time, she recognized it as her uncle's voice.

* * *

When he had seen the burnt remains of the farm, Hackett's faith that his niece was alive had dwindled to almost nothing. His heart had nearly leaped out of his chest when he'd received her return message. And now, here she was, not 50 yards away.

"Thank God," he said as he reached her. He knelt beside her, shining his flashlight on her. "Are you hurt, Lucy?" he asked in alarm, taking in all of the blood that covered her sweatshirt.

She shook her head, though he noticed it was with a slight wince. "I'm okay. The blood isn't mine." She looked at him in confusion. "Why are you here?"

He was taken aback by the question. "What do you mean? Mine was one of the ships that responded to the attack. But-"

Her face fell. "Oh."

He lifted her chin with one hand and brushed a tear from her cheek with his thumb. "_But_ the reason I'm here right now is because of you, sweetheart." She nodded slightly. "Now would you mind telling me _whose_ blood that is if it's not yours?"

"A batarian at the house," she said quietly, staring off into the darkness. "Somebody, I don't know who, shot him when he grabbed me."

Hackett stood then and held a hand out to her. "Can you walk?"

"I think so," she said, gripping his hand tightly as she stood on shaking legs. "Apparently not _well_, but..."

He wrapped an arm around her. "Let's get you out of here."

She stopped suddenly. "What about Kevin?" she asked, trying to pull away.

He tightened his grip on her shoulders. "He's... I'm sorry, sweetheart. He's dead."

She pulled away violently and tumbled forward. He caught her around the waist before she hit the ground and pulled her back against his chest, even as she fought to get away. "No! We have to go back and check! We can't leave him!"

"Lucy, I need you to get a grip sweetheart." She stopped struggling then and turned wide pale grey eyes towards him. He shook his head before continuing in a gentler tone. "We went by the farm first, or what's left of it. I saw him with my own eyes. I'm sorry."

She slumped against him and started sobbing against his chest. It was then he noticed the pistol she was clutching tightly in one hand. He tried to take it from her and she resisted.

"I-I can't. It's all I have left," she said quietly.

"I know, sweetheart." He put a hand over hers. "Just... let me take the bullets out. You won't need them anymore. You're safe now."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks for the follows :)**

* * *

_You're safe now._

The words still echoed in Lucy's mind hours later as she sat curled up under a blanket on the couch in her uncle's quarters. The ship's doctor had checked her over and, apart from the deep gash and some heavy bruising on her neck, he found no other injuries. When he'd tried to keep her overnight for observation anyway, her uncle had argued against it, stating that what she needed was family, not a stranger's observation.

She was ordering a few sets of clothes and books when her omni-tool pinged with an incoming message. She frowned. As far as she knew, everyone she'd ever known was either dead or sitting not five feet from her, typing up a report on the attack, so who the hell would be sending her a message?

_From: Zaeed Massani  
To: Lucy Shepard  
Subj: You Alive?  
Don't know if he ever mentioned me, but I was a friend of your brother. We were in the Alliance together years ago.  
I'm so goddamn sorry. I tried to help him after I shot the bastard that had grabbed you, but I was too late. And then I tried to find you when I left the farm, but I had no idea where you'd gone.  
Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.  
-Zaeed_

She stared at the message for a full five minutes before she was able to type out a reply.

_From: Lucy Shepard  
To: Zaeed Massani  
Subj: Thanks  
Kevin didn't talk much about his days in the Alliance but I think he mentioned you a couple of times. Your name seems familiar anyway.  
I'm sure I'd be dead right now if it wasn't for you. And please don't blame yourself for Kevin's death. That was the batarians, plain and simple.  
I think I'll be okay. Maybe. Someday.  
-Lucy_

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" She looked up to see her uncle watching her with concern.

She shook her head. "Nothing. Found out who shot that batarian back on the farm; he sent me a message. I was just sending him a reply."

"I see. Who was it?"

"One of Kevin's friends from his Alliance days."

"Is he still with the Alliance?"

She shrugged. "He didn't say, but I don't think he is. Just said to let him know if there was anything he could do to help."

"I see," Hackett said again. "What his name?"

"Zaeed Massani."

His jaw clenched tightly. "No. He's definitely not still with the Alliance. Left not long after your brother did."

"You know him?"

"He left with another friend of his. They decided they didn't like the rules of military life so they made up their own and started a mercenary group. Until you mentioned his name though, I thought he was dead."

"Why?"

"Partnership soured about a year ago. I'd heard he got shot point-blank in the face, so it's interesting that he survived." Hackett turned serious eyes towards her. "Stay away from him, Lucy. He's dangerous."

"If it wasn't for him, _I'd_ be dead right now," she protested. "Not like I was gonna date him or something. It was just a simple e-mail."

"Nothing is ever _simple_ with Zaeed Massani." He shook his head and sighed. "Get some sleep, sweetheart. We'll be docking at Arcturus in a few hours."

"And then what?"

"What do you mean _and then what_?" He frowned. "Did you seriously think I was going to come get you and then dump you on some stranger's doorstep?"

Now that he'd said it out loud, it did seem ridiculous. She looked down at her hands and mumbled, "I don't know. Kevin always-"

He came over to sit on the coffee table and took her hands in his. "I am well aware of what your brother thought of me, though I have no idea _why_. But, before your mother died, I promised her that I would always look out for you."

"Why?"

"She wanted to make sure you had a safe place to go if your father's drinking got worse and he turned violent. Or, if _this_ happened."

Lucy shook her head. "Dad definitely drank more, a _lot_ more, after she died, but he was never violent. He was never... _anything_ really. He just sort of operated on auto-pilot, ya know?" She bit her lip in thought. "So, you've been prepared for this for six years?"

He gave her a small smile. "In as much as a person can be prepared for something like this, yes."

She sighed. "I... thanks for coming to find me tonight."

"I don't know what I ever did to give the impression that I don't care," he said, leaning over to kiss the top of her head before he stood up. "But family means everything to me and I will do anything to protect them."

* * *

_Overwhelming._ That was the first word that came to mind when Lucy set foot on Arcturus Station. Having spent the last eleven years on Mindoir and not remembering a hell of a lot of the five years she'd spent in Dallas before that, everything about the station was huge and extremely bright. And crowded. She'd never seen so many people in one place in her life.

She pulled up the hood of the jacket she'd borrowed from her uncle so it covered her face and stuck close to him as he navigated through the throngs of people at the docks. A woman claiming to be from ANN approached, demanding an interview, and Lucy cringed, expecting a barrage of questions. But Hackett merely wrapped a protective arm around her and pushed on towards the skycab stand, ignoring the reporter entirely.

"The public has a right to know what happened on Mindoir, Admiral!" she called after them.

He stopped and sighed, giving Lucy an apologetic smile as he turned, putting himself between her and the reporter.

"With all due respect, the public already knows everything it _needs_ to know," he said smoothly, though Lucy could hear a hard edge to his voice. "Nothing will come from harassing the survivors and witnesses of this nightmare except more heartache. You likely won't get any more answers today and you certainly won't get them from me. Good day."

He turned on his heel and gently pushed Lucy onward. He didn't speak again until they'd settled into a skycab and were on their way to his apartment. "Lucy, promise me something."

She raised an eyebrow as she glanced over at him. "What's that?"

"Whatever you decide to do with your life, for the love of God, please don't become a reporter."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for the fav and follows :)**

* * *

_One Month Later..._

"We are gathered here today to remember those who were lost, be they civilian or Alliance, to the batarian attack..."

The Alliance chaplain droned on and on, but Hackett stopped listening after awhile, instead focusing solely on Lucy. He had an arm wrapped around her shoulders as she sat next to him with her head on his shoulder, sobbing quietly as the chaplain read out the names of the dead.

He had thought at first that coming back to Mindoir was going to trigger some sort of panic attack for Lucy, but she had welcomed the idea of going to the service. And now that all was said and done, he was slightly relieved. Until now, she'd shown absolutely no emotion since the night of the attack and he had started to worry about her. She'd been acting much the way she'd described her father, minus the drinking. Except that Hackett knew that his brother-in-law had been more aware than he'd apparently let on to either of his children. The two men had corresponded frequently over the years and it had been Michael's own message, not the Alliance itself, that had first alerted Hackett to the slaver attack.

When the service was over, Hackett and Lucy walked over to the memorial stone that had been placed near the entrance to the town.

"Thanks for bringing me here, Uncle Steven," she said quietly, running her fingers over the names of her father and brother. "I think I really needed this. A bit of closure or as close to it as I'll ever get, I suppose. And I'm sorry I've been so... out of it lately."

He pulled her into a hug. "You're not grieving alone. I'm always here for you."

"I know," she said, nodding slowly. She glanced at the stone. "I think I just... I want to stay for a bit. I know it's stupid, but there's a lot of stuff I didn't get to say. Like... goodbye."

* * *

Lucy had been standing alone at the memorial stone for no more than a couple of minutes when someone came to stand beside her. She glanced over to see a man, about Kevin's age, with a tattoo on his neck, several more on his arm and a long scar running the length of the right side of his face.

Neither of them spoke for several minutes.

"He made me promise to keep an eye on you," the man said quietly after awhile. "I don't know what the hell he meant by that, but..."

She turned to look at him and noticed he was looking at the same two names she was. She placed a tentative hand on his arm. "Zaeed?"

He nodded as he turned toward her. "Glad to see you escaped _relatively_ unscathed," he said, gesturing to the now-scarring talon wound on her neck.

She gave him a small smile. "Only thanks to you." She leaned in to gently kiss his cheek and quickly turned away, blushing furiously as she made her way over to where her uncle was talking with a couple of members of the Admiralty.

He raised an eyebrow. "Who was that?" he asked as the men walked away.

"No one," she mumbled, looking away to avoid his piercing gaze.

"Lucy."

She sighed. "Fine. It was Zaeed."

"I see." He shook his head. "I'd wondered if he would show up. And?"

"And nothing." She shrugged. "We just talked for a second."

"That did _not_ look like _just talking_."

She rolled her eyes. "Think whatever you want, Uncle Steven, but it was completely innocent."

He seemed unconvinced. "I'll only say one thing, if you insist on getting to know him better," he said as they walked together past the memorial stone and into the remains of the town. "Be careful. Whether or not _he_ is dangerous, which I still think he is, he certainly has dangerous enemies, not the least of which would be his ex-partner."

Lucy didn't know how to respond to that, so she just nodded. If her uncle wanted to think there was _something_ to the non-relationship between her and Zaeed, so be it.

She pushed all thoughts of the bounty hunter out of her mind and ignored the ping on her omni-tool as she and Hackett approached the remains of the farm. When he'd asked her why she wanted to come back so soon to the farm itself, she'd had an answer all ready but hadn't known how to articulate it. Now that they were actually _in_ the place, sifting through the charred remnants of her childhood, she couldn't rightly remember what the hell that reason had been.

"Are you all right, sweetheart?" Hackett asked, placing a hand on her shoulder as she stood in the middle of what had been the living room. The last place she'd seen and talked to Kevin.

She sighed heavily and shook her head. "I'm sorry. We... it was a mistake, coming back here. I don't know why I thought I _needed_ to see this place again, especially like this."

He gripped her shoulder tightly and turned her to face him. He didn't say a word, only held her as she buried her face in his shirt and sobbed.

"You may not realize it now, but sometime down the road, the fact that you chose to come back here may help you," he said after a prolonged silence. "There's no right or wrong way to grieve, and it will take time."

"If you say so." She knew he was probably right, about coming back to the farm. But at the moment, it still felt like it had been an incredibly stupid idea.

"Do you want to go?" he asked, pulling her back from her thoughts that had once again started to wander to her last conversation with Kevin.

She nodded. "Yes, please. I needed closure, but I got that, for the most part, at the memorial." She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. "Thanks."

"For what?"

She looped her arm through his as they walked out of the house and away from the farm. "Everything."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thanks for the fav and follow :)**

* * *

"Are you sure you'll be okay to stay by yourself?" Hackett asked, yet again, as he prepared to leave. "It's not too late to change your mind."

Lucy smiled. "I'll be fine. If you were going to a conference on Earth or something, I'd definitely tag along. I could go sight-seeing or... something. But this, spending a month on a starship? No thanks. I'll be bored out of my skull within a day."

He chuckled. "You may be right. At least if you're here on the station, I know you'll have school to occupy your time." He looked at her sternly. "You will keep up your school work."

"Of course," she scoffed. "No way am I falling behind now. I still plan to graduate and go to university on Earth."

"Excellent plan. Stick with it." He pulled her into a hug. "If you find you don't want to stay by yourself, don't forget the Moreaus said you're more than welcome to stay with them. And you can message me any time, all right?"

She nodded.

He lifted her chin in one hand, forcing her to look into his eyes. "And don't forget what I said about Massani."

She huffed and rolled her eyes. "I know, I know."

They'd had the same argument at least half a dozen times in the weeks that had passed since the memorial service on Mindoir. And since Hackett had received notice of his next mission, brief though it was going to be, he'd worried over what would happen while he was gone. He wasn't stupid; he knew that if she needed someone to talk to, it was much more likely she'd message the bounty hunter than she would her own family. He also knew that if he forbade her from contacting Massani at all, she'd rebel and... only God knew what she'd likely do. So he kept up his warnings to her, in hopes that _one_ of them would sink in and she'd decide to stay away from Massani on her own.

"Seriously, I'll be fine, Uncle Steven," she said, holding out one of his bags for him as he put on his jacket. "And yes, I'll be careful of Massani."

"Good." He kissed the top of her head, took the bag from her hand and walked out the door.

* * *

_Fuck_. Lucy woke in a cold sweat. It was the eighth time since her uncle had left that she'd had a nightmare about batarians. She hadn't told him about them, but she needed to do _something_. The lack of sleep was affecting her school work. She sighed and grabbed her omni-tool as she pulled on a sweatshirt and padded into the living room with a blanket.

It hadn't been until they were on their way back to Arcturus after the memorial service that she'd remembered the ping on her omni-tool. She'd pulled up her messages to find one from Zaeed: _Send me a message if you ever need to talk. Any time. - Z_

She decided now was the time to take him up on that offer.

_Inter-Relay Text Chat  
_

_Location: Arcturus  
_

_From: Lucy  
_

_To: Zaeed_

_02:25 L: Hi_

_02:28 Z: Hey_

_02:30 Z: What's up?_

_02:35 L: I... crap this was stupid._

_02:36 L: Forget it._

_02:39 Z: Lucy, what's wrong?_

_02:40 Z: I wasn't kidding when I said you could message me any time._

_02:50 L: Do you ever have nightmares?_

_02:52 Z: All the bloody time._

_02:55 Z: Why do you ask? You have one tonight?_

_03:00 L: Not just tonight. Uncle Steven is... away... and I've had at least one every night he's been gone._

_03:01 Z: Shit. And I'm guessing you haven't told him._

_03:05 L: No. I'm afraid if I do, he'll... come home or something. Or make me go with him._

_03:06 Z: Surprised he agreed to leave you by yourself as it was._

_03:07 L: Why?_

_03:09 Z: I dunno really. I remember how bloody strict he was when I was with the Alliance. So I just always pictured him as the overprotective to the point of smothering type._

_03:13 L: That's what I'm afraid will happen. I know he keeps trying to prove that he's more of a family man than Kevin ever thought he was, but at some point, that's probably going to translate into being the overbearing "dad" that my own dad just... wasn't._

_03:15 L: I... um... sorry. I didn't mean to say quite that much._

_03:16 Z: 'S all right._

_03:17 Z: What was your nightmare about?_

_03:19 L: Batarians. The others have been the same as well, except those all involved me. I usually wake up gasping for breath, like somebody is choking me._

_03:20 Z: And this one?_

_03:22 L: This one wasn't... it wasn't me. It was Kevin and Dad. And a couple of my friends._

_03:26 L: Why were you at the farm that night?_

_03:28 Z: Picking up a bounty._

_03:30 L: Kevin?_

_03:31 Z: Hell no._

_03:33 Z: I was in town, saw your old man at the bar. I was already heading to the farm to see Kevin when the raid started._

_03:34 L: Oh._

_03:35 L: Did you go to Mindoir a lot?_

_03:36 Z: No. Small farming community like that, a criminal, particularly an alien one, would stick out like a bloody sore thumb._

_03:38 L: Right._

_03:40 Z: But I'd tracked this one into town. He ran off before I could nab him though._

_03:41 L: Batarian?_

_03:42 Z: Yes. Should have known something was up._

_03:43 L: Not your fault._

_03:45 L: Thanks._

_03:46 Z: For?_

_03:48 L: Listening._

_03:50 Z: You gonna be okay?_

_03:51 L: I think so._

_03:52 L: I'm gonna try to get some sleep now._

_03:53 Z: G'night._

_03:55 User Has Disconnected._

* * *

_Three Weeks Later..._

Hackett was positive something had gone horribly wrong. He unlocked the door to his apartment, stepped into the living room and was overwhelmed by the scents of... home. Of Buenos Aires.

Perhaps he'd hit his head at some point and been knocked out, because he _had_ to be dreaming. He dropped his bags by the door, stepped into the kitchen and stopped dead in his tracks in the doorway.

Every surface was covered in pots and pans, and Lucy was in the middle of it all, dicing sweet potatoes.

Hackett raised an eyebrow. "What is all this?" he asked, walking over to the stove to see a stew bubbling away.

"It's a recipe Mom tried to teach me when I was little," Lucy replied, carrying a handful of sweet potato chunks to the stove and dropping them into the pot. She smiled ruefully. "She had more success with Kevin, mostly because... he could reach the stove."

Hackett grabbed a spoon to sneak a taste. "For something she _tried_ to teach you, you seem to be doing quite well."

"Oh yeah. Well, after she died, Kevin decided to start a tradition of making this dish on her birthday. And eventually he taught me, with limited success." She added the rest of the potato chunks along with a cup of raisins and stirred it all together before putting on the lid. She turned away from the stove with a sigh. "I figured, with Kevin gone, I should continue the tradition."

An hour later, they were sitting down to a delicious cumin pork and sweet potato _guiso_. Lucy seemed nervous, and not just about the food.

"What's wrong?" Hackett asked refilling his bowl with a second serving. "You're not normally this quiet over dinner."

She shrugged. "Nothing. Just tired I guess. Had a long day."

"Lucy, it's Sunday. Unless you had some big school project, you did _not_ have a long day." He ate a few spoonfuls before continuing. "You haven't been sleeping well, have you?"

She looked surprised but didn't deny it. "How'd you know?"

"Your English teacher called and said she was concerned about the quality of your last paper."

"Oh."

"So? What's going on?"

"Just... had a few nightmares."

"How many is a few, Lucy?"

She mumbled something he couldn't quite make out, but vaguely sounded like "almost every night."

He raised an eyebrow. "For a whole month?"

She shook her head. "Not... exactly."

He frowned. "Why didn't you tell me?"

She shrugged again. "I dunno."

"Did they eventually stop?"

"Yes. I... talked to Zaeed once," she said quietly, looking down at her bowl of half-eaten _guiso._

"I see. And the reason you felt the need to talk to _him_ instead of me?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"I wouldn't understand _what_ exactly?"

"Never mind. Forget it."

Hackett got up and walked around to the other side of the table, crouching down beside her chair. "Lucy, what's wrong? Did I do something to upset you?"

She shook her head. "No. I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that." She sighed. "The reason... it was partly because I'm so used to being _alone_. I mean yeah, Dad and Kevin were... around, more or less, but I couldn't ever really talk to them."

"I can't honestly say I'm any less confused than I was before, sweetheart."

She didn't say anything for a minute. "I... was afraid that if I told _you_, about the nightmares, that you would take my independence away or something. That's also why I never went to stay with the Moreaus." She looked down at her hands. "And also, apparently I still had questions for Zaeed."

"I see. I'm not going to try to change who you are, Lucy. Ever."

She nodded. "Does it help that it was 0230 and I didn't want to wake you because I knew you had early meetings the whole time you were gone?"

He chuckled. "Yes, I suppose that helps a little." He stood up and began clearing the dishes. "How long was this _chat_, anyway?"

"About an hour and a half."

He set the dishes on the counter and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yes, Lucy. You are forgiven. As long as it was just chatting."

"Of course. I didn't actually _see_ Zaeed. Haven't seen him since the memorial."

Hackett sighed as he began washing the dishes. "Thank heaven for small miracles."


	5. Chapter 5

_Eighteen Months Later..._

"Luciana Jane Shepard!"

Lucy heard whistling and cheers coming from a section of the stands as she got up to get her diploma. She looked over her shoulder and saw her boyfriend Tony had come home from college and was sitting with her uncle and the Moreaus. She also quickly scanned the stands for Zaeed but didn't see him anywhere.

_That doesn't mean he's not here_, she reminded herself as she carefully walked up the stairs and across the stage.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she was back at her seat, cheering the rest of her classmates as they walked up to the stage. She only dressed up when forced to and today was one of _those_ days. She'd barely made it across the stage without tripping in the heels Mrs. Moreau had picked to match her equally uncomfortable dress. One thing was certain, she was _never_ letting that woman take her shopping ever again, best friend's mother or not.

Finally, it was over.

Except that it wasn't. After the ceremony, there was a long session of picturing-taking, with everyone grumbling that hadn't their parents already taken a billion pictures before? Why did they need more after?

What felt like _hours_ later, it was time to party.

* * *

"Congratulations, Miss Shepard."

Lucy turned away from the refreshment table and smiled. "Thank you, Commander Anderson," she said, shaking the man's proffered hand.

"So what do you plan to do now, if I may ask?"

She shrugged. "I'm going back to Texas for college, that much I know. As for what I'm studying, I don't know yet. Possibly archeology or history."

"_Back_ to Texas?"

"Yes, sir. I was born in Dallas. We lived there 'til I was five, right before I started school. That's when my dad decided he wanted to be a farmer and the family moved to Mindoir."

"Well, good luck with whatever you plan to study," he said with a smile. "Hope we'll see you around here on your breaks."

"Definitely." Lucy spotted someone who looked slightly out of place among the military brass. "Excuse me a moment, Commander."

He nodded as she stepped away. She started across the room where she'd seen Zaeed standing alone in a corner, looking disgusted at the drink in his hand. She couldn't help but laugh. The punch _was_ horrid, though she suspected his objection was less about the actual taste and more in the lack of alcohol.

However, before she got anywhere near him, a hand clamped down on her wrist and she found herself being dragged onto the dance floor.

She swore as she came face-to-face with Tony as he began spinning her towards the opposite side of the room. "I was just-"

"Ignoring me," he said, pulling her in closer. "I came all this way specifically to see _you_, babe, and you haven't said a damn word to me."

She huffed impatiently. "I wasn't _ignoring_ you, idiot. I was going to talk to a friend. _You_ are gonna be here for a while. He's... not."

"Right. A _friend_," he said sarcastically.

She glared at him. "You trying to tell me I can't have friends now?"

"Don't be stupid, Lucy," he scoffed. "Of course you can have friends. Just not-"

"Not what, Tony? Think long and hard before you finish that sentence," she snapped as she put her hands on his chest and pushed him away. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm gonna go talk to my _friend_."

* * *

Zaeed could see a war of emotions playing out on Lucy's face as she stalked towards him, a mixture of anger and... relief. He reached a hand out to pull her into a hug when she got close enough but she shook her head and grabbed his hand.

"Come on. I need to be... anywhere that's not here right now," she said as she started walking towards the door, dragging him along behind her.

He followed her out to the school's courtyard where she flopped down on a bench and kicked off her shoes. He sat next to her and tentatively put an arm around her shoulders.

She leaned into him, her head on his shoulder, and sighed. "Thanks for coming, Zaeed. I'm really glad you're here."

"Aren't graduations usually _happy_?" he asked after they'd sat in silence for a few minutes. "What's with the anger?"

She shook her head slightly. "Boys suck."

He choked back a laugh. "Well, if that's the way you feel..."

She raised her head and gave him a bewildering look. "I said _boys_, not men."

He smirked. "Good to know. So who was that jackass you were talking to?"

"My boyfriend, Tony," she said softly, looking down at her hands. She didn't look or sound at all happy about it.

"No offense, Lucy, but anyone who puts _that_ look on your face isn't worth your goddamn time," Zaeed said gently.

She nodded. "I know. I want to break up with him but I don't... I'm a little scared of how he might react."

He frowned. "Has he ever hurt you?"

She shook her head. "No. But he's crazy jealous. He's not... _controlling_, exactly, but probably only because he's terrified of Uncle Steven." She sighed again. "Mostly, he's just-"

"Oh do tell us, Lucy," a snide voice said from somewhere behind them. "What _am_ I?"

Lucy paled as she jumped up off of the bench and whirled around. Zaeed got up as well and stood close behind her but not touching her, as he watched Tony, who was glaring at them both.

"You are a fucking bully," she said after a moment in what Zaeed thought was a surprisingly steady voice. "And we are _over_."

Tony scoffed. "You can't be serious. You don't have the-"

"Is there a problem here?" Hackett asked as he came up to the group, glancing between Zaeed and Tony.

"No, no problem," Lucy said between gritted teeth. "I was just saying _good-bye_ to Tony before Zaeed walked me home."

Hackett raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

She rolled her eyes as she bent down to pick up her shoes. "Because I asked him to, that's why."

Hackett spun around to glare at Tony. "What the hell did you do to her?" he growled as Lucy and Zaeed started walking across the courtyard to the school's front gate.

* * *

As soon as they rounded the side of the building, Lucy leaned against a wall and sank to the ground. "That, breaking up with him, is going to bite me in the ass, I just know it."

Zaeed crouched down beside her. "If he's really that bad, tell your uncle about it. You know whatever Tony is telling him is probably a lie."

"I know." She leaned her head against the wall. "But I'm leaving for Earth in a couple of weeks. After that, I don't have to worry about Tony anymore."

"That's not the way the universe works." He stood up and hauled her to her feet, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they started walking again. "Let's get you home."

By the time they were standing at her front door, Lucy's thoughts had wandered from Tony and how much of an ass he was to the man standing next her. He was saying something, but she didn't have a damn clue what it was. She was too busy staring at his lips to actually hear the words coming out of them. Suddenly, all her thoughts were focused on... what it would be like to kiss him.

"Lucy?"

She looked up into his eyes. "Hmm?"

"Is there a particular reason you've been staring at me for the past five minutes, with a look on your face that clearly says you haven't heard a bloody word I said?" he asked, pure amusement in his voice.

She blushed deeply and mumbled something unintelligible that even she didn't understand. She turned around and fumbled with the keypad by the door. Finally the door slid open and she stepped into the hallway. She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand on her shoulder, only just remembering that Zaeed was still with her, a moment before he spun her back around to face him again.

Suddenly, he pulled her into his arms, tangled his fingers in her hair and crushed his lips against hers.

She gasped for breath when he finally pulled away. "What-"

He shook his head. "Sorry," he said gruffly, releasing his hold on her hair and arms.

She raised an eyebrow. "Why? I'm not." She wrapped her arms around his neck and grinned. "Kiss me again."


	6. Chapter 6

"Have any plans for today?" Hackett asked casually as he sat across from Lucy at breakfast.

"I'm going up to the arcade this afternoon for my last shift and..." she trailed off as she read something on her omni-tool.

He frowned. "Something wrong, sweetheart?"

She shook her head in response as she stood up and ran from the room, her eyes filled with tears.

He waited a few moments before he got up and followed her. As he reached her room, he heard something softly hit the wall and fall to the floor. He knocked once to let her know he was there and then opened the door.

She was sitting on her bed, hugging her knees, staring off into the corner of the room. Her omni-tool was on the floor a short distance away.

He walked over and picked up her omni-tool before he sat on the edge of the bed. "What happened?" he asked as he tried to hand her the 'tool.

She pushed his hand away and rested her head on her knees. "Last night, right before you showed up, I'd told Tony that we were over. He was being a jerk at the reception and really he's always been like that and I was sick of it."

Hackett had been wondering if that was what had happened. "And this morning?" he prompted after she'd fallen silent for several minutes.

"I was checking my e-mail and apparently he'd sent me one last night, right after you two finished your... chat." She hugged her knees tighter and shivered. "He said he was the one who would decide when the relationship was over, not me. That he wasn't the least bit intimidated by you, which is crap, by the way. And then he described what he would do to me if he saw me with Zaeed again."

"I knew that son of a bitch was no good," Hackett muttered under his breath.

"Yes, so you've said several times since the first moment you met him. Wish I'd listened to you," Lucy said ruefully as she leaned back and put her head on his shoulder. "What do I do? I don't trust that he won't do something even if I stayed away from Zaeed. Which I won't do anyway."

"I figured as much. We're going to have to have a _discussion_, young lady, about kissing where security cameras are present." She gave him a horrified look and he smiled as he kissed the top of her head. "Later. Much later. For now, I am going to have a very different sort of _discussion_ with your ex-boyfriend."

She followed him out when he walked back to the kitchen. "I don't want to stay here by myself. I know that probably sounds paranoid but Tony has a lot of friends. And I really wouldn't put it past him to have them _keep an eye on me _if he knows I'm home alone."

"Knowing what I do about him, no that doesn't sound paranoid at all." Hackett raised an eyebrow. "Is this your way of asking if you can call Massani to be here while I'm out?"

"Um... no. That was my way of _telling_ you that I already did."

He glanced down at the TCU tank top and purple and white argyle pajama pants she was wearing. "You're getting dressed before he gets here."

She rolled her eyes.

"And he is under no circumstances to enter your bedroom."

"Ugh. Why would you even _say_ something like that?" She stalked back to her room and spun around in the doorway. "It was one kiss. That's it."

"I counted at least two, Lucy. Security cameras in the entrance hall, remember?"

She rolled her eyes again as the door slid shut.

* * *

By the time a full-dressed Lucy stepped back out into the living room fifteen minutes later, Zaeed had arrived. He and her uncle were sitting in chairs at opposite ends of the room, both looking decidedly pissed off. She walked over and sat down on the couch, tucking her legs up under herself and waited for one of them to say or do something.

After five minutes of complete silence, she'd had enough. "Uncle Steven, didn't you say something about going out to _discuss_ something with Tony?"

"I did. And I will. _After_ Massani understands that if he so much as-"

"Ugh. Enough." Lucy hopped up off of the couch. Stopping by Zaeed's chair, she put a hand on his shoulder before turning back to face her uncle. "If you two want to sit here and bitch at each other, fine. When you want to _talk_," she squeezed Zaeed's shoulder for emphasis, "let me know. I'm going out."

She saw them exchange a brief look as she started to walk away. Zaeed reached up and grabbed the hand that was gripping his shoulder, using it to pull her into his lap. Hackett glared at them both.

Lucy smirked. "What? I'm not leaving am I?"

He sighed as he stood up. He pulled her off of Zaeed's lap and deposited her back on the couch. "No, you're not. I will be back... later. When I return we will discuss what happened here last night," he added, once again glaring at Zaeed.

"Wait, before you go," Lucy said, bringing up her omni-tool. "Let me send you the e-mail, so you'll know _exactly_ what you're... discussing... with Tony."

The moment the front door was closed, Zaeed moved from the chair to sit next to Lucy on the couch.

"See? I told you breaking up with Tony would bite me in the ass," she murmured after awhile, running her fingertips across the back of his hand.

He wrapped his arms around her. "You had no choice, Lucy. If you had stayed with him, there's a bloody good chance he would have done something to you."

She leaned back against him and sighed. "I know. But there's no real guarantee he won't do something to me _now_."

"There is, actually." They looked back to see Hackett walking into the living room. "Hands to yourself, Massani."

"What are you doing back so soon?" Lucy asked as she defiantly wrapped Zaeed's arms tighter around herself.

Hackett sighed but didn't try again to separate them. "Tony was in a bar fight late last night. There was an unlicensed gun involved and because they're all accusing each other of owning it, the whole lot of them are in lock-up for at least a few days."

"Did you actually see him?"

"I did, but I didn't speak with him. Wouldn't have done any good anyway. He was still so drunk, he probably wouldn't have remembered anything I said."

"Probably won't listen to anything you say when you do talk to him," she muttered bitterly.

"You may be right, but I'm still going to try." Hackett sat in the chair he had occupied earlier. "Now about last night..."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thanks for the follow :)**

* * *

"Oh yeah, forgot to tell you, your boyfriend stopped by while you were doing your last exam."

Lucy glanced up from the book she was reading to stare at her roommate, surprised the girl had even spoken to her. It was a _rare_ occurrence. "My... boyfriend? I don't have a boyfriend, Brandi." It was true. While they'd gone on a couple of dinner dates and he'd rescued her from that one supremely boring Alliance fundraiser her uncle had dragged her to just before she'd left for college, Lucy and Zaeed had decided they weren't dat_ing_. Yet.

Brandi shrugged indifferently.

"What did he look like?"

"Basically tall, dark and _so_ hot," Brandi gushed. "Looked like he could be a model."

_Tony. Had to be. Shit. _"That's... my ex."

"Poor baby," Brandi said in a mocking tone. "Did he dump you?"

Lucy rolled her eyes. "No, I dumped him."

Brandi raised an eyebrow. "You broke up with _that_? Are you stupid?"

"Stupid if I'd stayed with him. Did he say anything, like why he's here?"

"Yeah, he said he'd meet you at the coffee shop, that he'd have your usual order waiting."

Lucy paled.

"Now meeting for coffee freaks you out?" Brandi shook her head. "Hey, if you don't want to go, I'll go."

"You want to date him, be my guest," Lucy said as she looked through her closet, trying to find something to wear that might turn Tony _off_. She knew it wouldn't work but it was worth a shot anyway. "Some stuff you should know about him before you go try to fuck his brains out though."

"Like what? Is he a stalker or something?"

Lucy gave her a pained smile. "Yeah, something like that."

"Seriously?" Brandi narrowed her eyes. "You're not just saying this to keep me away from him, are you?"

Lucy shook her head. "I broke up with him more than six months ago, and yet he still refers to himself as my boyfriend. What's that tell you?"

"That he's a psycho."

"Exactly." Lucy exchanged the tank top she'd worn to her exam for a long-sleeved henley t-shirt that was only slightly less formfitting. The coffee shop was always a little chilly. "All right, I'm ready. How do I look?"

"Like a girl who claims she's not stupid but is still going to meet a psycho for coffee," Brandi said with a wink. She raised an eyebrow. "You sure about this?"

"It's just the coffee shop. Nothing bad is gonna happen," Lucy said, her voice sounding a lot more sure than she felt.

"Famous last words," Brandi muttered as Lucy walked out the door. "Good luck."

* * *

"Aren't you supposed to be in New York?" Lucy asked warily as she sat across from Tony. "Why are you here?"

He shrugged. "I had the weekend off, thought I'd come visit you."

"Okay, first of all, it's Tuesday. Second of all, I thought I made it perfectly clear I didn't want to see you ever again."

"And yet, here you are."

"_You_ came to see _me_ first." It was a weak argument and they both knew it. She took a sip of her coffee and tried again. "How did you even find out where I go to school?"

No matter what he said, she knew that he'd known for awhile. _He_ may have just gotten into town, but she knew for a fact he'd had some of his friends from the old days watching her since she'd arrived in Fort Worth in August. Well, _now_ she knew for a fact. Before, it had just been a strong suspicion. But when Brandi had said he'd have her _usual order_ waiting, she knew.

It had started around the third week of school, when she'd come into the coffee shop one morning to find someone had already ordered for her. She'd played it off as a random act of kindness until it happened every day for a week. Then she'd changed her order, to see if whoever was doing this would noticed.

They had.

After a couple of weeks, they'd stopped, but even two and a half months later, Lucy continued to change up her order every few days just in case. And yet, when she'd come in a few minutes ago, Tony had what he'd said was _this week's_ usual order waiting. She'd promptly dumped it in the trash and ordered something else. Not a chance in hell she was drinking anything Tony had touched. There was a 99.99% chance he'd drugged it.

She glanced at him over the top of her cup. He still hadn't answered her question. "Well? Who the fuck did you pay off to find out where I was?"

"You weren't exactly in _hiding_, babe." He shook his head with a laugh. "But I didn't _pay anyone off_."

"Bullshit. And stop calling me babe."

"You may think the worst of me, but I swear, I didn't go hunting for you."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"Look. A guy I know works for the company that installed the security cameras in your uncle's apartment and-"

Lucy shuddered. "Gross."

Tony sighed. "Will you let me finish?"

"Fine."

"Apparently there was some problem with all of their systems over the summer, so they were going around doing maintenance in every place that had their cameras. Davis just happened to be the one who was assigned to your uncle's place."

"And? You still haven't gotten to the part that doesn't make me want to scrub all my skin off. Any friend of yours-"

"He's not one of _those_ friends, Luce."

"_Those friends_ being the ones you have keeping tabs on me, following me around, even here?"

Tony sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "Yes."

"So you admit you're a creep."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine. I admit I'm a creep," he said sarcastically. "You're still the one who willingly came to meet me."

"And that was a mistake," Lucy said as she got up to leave.

He put a firm hand on top of hers. "Wait. Please. All I wanted to do was talk to you."

"Then you should have called," she snapped, trying to free her hand.

"You wouldn't have answered." His grip tightened slightly. "Just sit and let's talk, okay?"

* * *

Brandi sat cross-legged on the end of her bed and stared at Lucy. "You're going on a _date_ with him?" she asked incredulously. "After you lectured me on how much of a creep he was?"

"It's not a date. He wants to _talk_ over dinner."

"That's a date, sweetie. And I thought that's why he wanted to get coffee."

"It was," Lucy said, her head once again buried in her closet, looking for something to wear.

_Stupid ever-changing Texas weather._

"So what happened?"

"We didn't get past him trying to justify how he found out where I was." Lucy pulled out a black over-sized cable-knit sweater and held it up for Brandi to judge.

"That'd be cute with jeans." She frowned. "And? How _did_ he find out?"

Lucy crouched down to inspect her shoes. "One of his friends was apparently _legitimately_ in my uncle's apartment while I was on vacation, recognized me in a couple of pictures and saw the TCU stuff scattered all over the place. He just _happened_ to mention it to Tony the next time they talked. Tony never did tell me how he found out I was in Hawaii at the time."

"Okay, that may be one of the creepiest things I've ever heard." Brandi shuddered. "Why the hell would you want to talk to him more?"

Lucy shrugged. No way in hell she was ever going to say it out loud, but a very tiny part of her had missed him. Not that she wanted to start dating him again. She was _not_ going down that road ever again.

"You know you _did_ say that out loud, right?" Brandi asked with concern.

_Shit._

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Lucy replied, sitting on her own bed to pull on a pair of stiletto ankle boots.

"Fine, live in denial. But be careful, all right?"

Lucy nodded. "I'll be fine."

* * *

"Winslow's? Really?" Lucy crossed her arms. "You really think I'm stupid enough to go to a _wine bar_ with you?"

Tony held up a hand. "I won't drink. I swear. Scout's honor."

She rolled her eyes. "You were never in the scouts. And what's the point of going to a bar if you're not drinking? _I'm_ not drinking, you know that."

He shrugged. "Dunno. What's the point in picking a steakhouse and then ordering chicken? And yet you did that _every time_."

"Bite me. And that's so not the same thing." She took a step back from the door. "I dunno, Tony."

"Come on. They have incredible food." He held out a hand to her. "It'll be worth it, I promise. And I will be on my best behavior."

"That's such a comforting thought." She rolled her eyes. "Fine. But I'm gonna regret this, I just know it," she muttered as she reluctantly took his hand and they walked into the bar.

Even on a Tuesday, Winslow's was exceptionally busy. By the time they finally got seated, Lucy was beginning to relax a bit. She even let her guard down enough to sit next to Tony instead of across from him at the table.

She knew she was playing with fire, but she kept ignoring the warnings in her head telling her that something was wrong. He was every bit as sweet and charming as he'd been when they'd first started dating. It was as if the jealous asshole she'd broken up with six months ago was gone, though she knew he was still there, lurking just under the surface.

"So, what exactly did you want to talk about?" she asked after they'd finished their meal and were waiting on dessert.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. "Us."

"There is no _us_, Tony," she said quietly. "Not anymore."

"There will _always_ be an us, babe." He used his free hand to cup her face, running his thumb across her lips as he leaned in closer. "Always."

Lucy was saved from the inevitable kiss by a beep on her omni-tool. A vid-chat hail from Zaeed. She'd all but forgotten he was supposed to be picking her up for Christmas break in all of about 12 hours. And, despite having watched Brandi doing it for the last two days during study breaks, she'd also forgotten to pack.

"Who is it?" Tony asked, his voice laced with suspicion. He'd obviously seen the relief that had crossed her face when the call came in.

"Uncle Steven," she lied. "I... I gotta go, Tony. Thanks for dinner." In one smooth motion, she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, which she knew she'd regret later, and swiftly made for the door before he could stop her.

She didn't get far up the street before he caught up to her.

"Finished chatting already?" he asked as he grabbed her wrist with an iron grip.

She nodded wordlessly. She'd ignored Zaeed's vid-chat entirely and sent him a text instead: _you may have been right about how the universe works__._

"So how is dear old Uncle Steven? Looking forward to you coming home for the holidays?"

"Leave me alone, Tony. I have to get back and study."

He shoved her up against a wall. "That vid-chat wasn't really from the Admiral was it? It was from Massani!"

"So what if it was?" The steadiness of her voice was belied by the racing of her heartbeat. "I told you six months ago, Tony. You and I are _over_."

"And I told you what I would do to you if I saw you and Massani together."

"We're not together and you've never _seen_ us together."

"Maybe not yet, but I'm sure if I stick around, I will tomorrow." He pressed his body up against hers and leaned in to whisper in her ear. "Have a good night, _babe_."


	8. Chapter 8

_Inter-Relay Text Chat_

_Location: San Diego_

_From: Zaeed_

_To: Lucy_

_20:46 Z: Are you okay?_

_20:48 L: Depends on your definition of okay._

_20:49 Z: What happened with Tony? Is he there right now?_

_20:52 L: No. And it's... too long to explain on chat._

_20:53 L: I'll tell you everything when you get here._

_20:55 Z: Are you safe?_

_20:59 L: I'm sitting in the closet of my locked dorm room. What do you think?_

_21:01 Z: That I should get there faster._

_21:04 L: I'll be fine. I still have to pack anyway._

_21:05 Z: Cutting it a bit fine, don't you think?_

_21:06 L: Shush. _

_21:10 Z: I'll be there first thing in the morning._

_21:11 L: I'll try to stay alive 'til then._

_21:12 Z: That's not even a little bit goddamn funny._

_21:13 L: I know. I'm sorry. It's been a long day._

_21:14 Z: I'll see you in a few hours._

_21:14 User has disconnected._

* * *

"You didn't sleep at all last night, did you?" Zaeed asked as he attempted to help Lucy finish packing. The third time she swatted his hand away, he gave up and flopped down on her bed to _observe_ instead.

"Not really, no." She tried unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn. "How'd you know?"

He shrugged. "You look hungover, like you went on a bloody pub crawl. But you don't drink."

"_I_ didn't drink, no. But Brandi sure as hell did." She shook her head. "Most of the night, I felt like I was back on Mindoir during the raid, jumping at every little sound. With all the activity going on here last night, Tony could have easily gotten into the building if he'd wanted to. Didn't help when Brandi came crashing through the door and passed out on the floor. Scared the hell out of me. I spent the rest of the night making sure she didn't choke on her own puke."

"Where is she now?"

"One of her dads came by to pick her up a couple of hours ago. He took us out to breakfast before they left. The three cups of coffee I had are the only reason I'm not completely dead on my feet right now."

"So you say. You look like you could pass out at any second."

"I'll sleep on the ride home." She zipped up her suitcase. "I'm done. Let's go."

"Have you told you uncle what happened with Tony?" Zaeed asked, already knowing the answer was _no_, as he got up and hauled the suitcase off of the bed.

"Not yet. But I will. Told Brandi's dad though. He's a cop. Both are, actually."

"Here in town?"

Lucy nodded. "Yeah. Brandi could easily live at home instead of the dorms if she wanted to."

"So what did he say?"

She shrugged. "He said I had a strong case for a restraining order."

"So you're going to file for one, yes?" he asked as pulled out into the traffic headed for the spaceport, again knowing the answer was _no_.

"What's the point?" She shifted to get more comfortable in the seat. "A restraining order isn't going to stop Tony. That's just not how he operates. He gets other people to do the dirty work for him."

"At some point, he _will _step up his game and come after you personally."

"I know. I think he probably would have yesterday if I'd refused to go see him at the coffee shop." She sighed and rubbed her fingers over her bruised wrist. "And I think I was damn lucky to get away from him last night." She glanced over at Zaeed. "Remind me never to be that stupid again."

He shook his head. "That wasn't your fault, Lucy. That was Tony being manipulative, turning on the charm to make you forget how much of a goddamn sleazy bastard he is."

She nodded slightly, but the look in her eyes told him that she didn't quite believe it.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thanks for the fav and follow :)**

* * *

"What the bloody-" Zaeed cut off a prepared rant at whoever had been trying to bang down his hotel room door when he found Hackett standing on the other side, looking exceptionally worried.

The Admiral stalked past him into the room. "We... may have a problem."

Zaeed quickly closed and locked the door. "Problem with what?"

"Lucy."

"What's wrong?"

"She told me she was going to a movie with Jeff Moreau." Hackett began pacing the room. "I was happy to hear it. She hadn't been out of the apartment since the day you two arrived on the station. She'd spent all of her time obsessing and worrying over Tony."

"Okay, not hearing the problem yet," Zaeed said casually, though he had a sinking feeling he knew exactly what was coming next.

"I got a call from Jeff about ten minutes ago, telling me that he'd gone into the theater to get seats while Lucy waited in line for their snacks. When she hadn't come into the theater after about fifteen minutes, he went out looking for her and saw her talking to someone he thought looked a lot like Tony."

_Shit._

Hackett must have seen the look on Zaeed's face, because the next second, the bounty hunter found himself slammed up against the wall, Hackett's arm pressing against his throat. "You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?" he growled.

"No, I didn't," Zaeed snapped, pushing Hackett away. He shook his head. "I'm sorry. I remember her talking in her sleep when we were on our way here, but I didn't actually expect her to act on it. She was a goddamn wreck that day."

Hackett rounded on him again. "If _anything_ happens to her-"

"If anything happens to her, it will be Tony's fault, not mine." Zaeed clenched and unclenched his fist a few times to keep from putting a hole in the wall beside Hackett's head. "Did Jeff say anything else?" he asked as he walked towards the door, not bothering to find out if the Admiral was following him.

"He said he was too far away to hear what they were saying but it looked like the conversation was friendly enough, for a conversation that involves Tony."

"Well, that's something anyway," Zaeed muttered, pacing in front of the elevator.

Hackett swore as he glanced down when his omni-tool beeped. "Dammit. Apparently they left and Jeff followed as long as he could, but lost them in the crowd after awhile."

They exited the elevator and walked swiftly to Hackett's skycar.

"So where the hell are we going?" Zaeed asked as the car took off.

"If this is Lucy's plan to get rid of him for good," Hackett said. "She would find it poetic if it happened at the arcade, which is where they met. Same goes for him. I can see him trying to use happy memories of their time together to do that."

"Sick bastard," Zaeed growled. "Should have just taken him out somewhere and shot him or dumped him in a deep crater. Drive faster."

* * *

_This was just about the dumbest idea you've ever had_, Lucy thought as she walked out of the arcade with Tony. She'd been surprised when he'd agreed to go where she wanted, though she shouldn't have been surprised when they didn't stay long. "Where are we going now?" she asked, hoping to keep the apprehension out of her voice.

"Somewhere special," Tony replied as he tugged on her hand, pulling her closer and silently urging her to stop dragging her feet.

_Great. I'm gonna die._

They walked along in silence for awhile, Tony presumably knowing exactly where they were meant to be going. Suddenly, he pulled her down an alleyway between two shops.

Lucy dug in her heels and attempted to pull her hand from his grasp. "Seriously, Tony. Where the fuck are we going? I agreed to go out with you because I thought we were going to do something fun like we used to. That's why I wanted to go to the arcade."

Tony swung around to face her, tightening his grip on her hand. "Oh, we _are_ going to have fun, babe." He pulled her in close against his body and leered at her. "_Trust me_," he whispered as he slowly backed her up against a wall, still awkwardly holding her one hand tightly as his other hand started sliding up her side under her shirt.

"Tony, stop it." She tried to move away from him as she pushed his hand away.

He chuckled darkly. "Admit it babe, you missed this. You missed _me_." He tightened his hold on her hand again and moved his free hand back to where it had been but started moving it in the opposite direction, towards her jeans.

"Stop it," she repeated, more forcefully, again pushing his hand away.

His expression hardened and he backhanded her across the face. Hard. "I am through playing games with you, babe," he growled, bringing the hand down to wrap around her throat.

Lucy panicked at how quickly he had snapped. She knew she had to do something before things escalated further.

Before he could say or do anything else, she slammed her head into his face, their height difference meaning the force of the blow was directed at his nose. A second later, there was a sickening crack as Tony, whether consciously or subconsciously, squeezed her hand to the breaking point before releasing it to tend to his face.

Running on adrenaline, Lucy ignored the pain and took advantage of his distractedness to plant her knee in his groin. He immediately fell to his knees and doubled over on the ground, mumbling incoherently.

She moved a few feet away from him and settled on the ground with her back against a nearby wall. She opened her omni-tool and sent a brief message to Jeff, telling him where she'd ended up and to send somebody to help. No way she was going anywhere without assistance anytime soon. The adrenaline was wearing off and the pain in her hand was quickly becoming unbearable. And she supposed, though he definitely deserved worse, it would be cruel to just leave Tony lying in the alley. But if it was Zaeed who came, that's probably what his vote would be anyway.

After what seemed an eternity but probably wasn't more than ten minutes, Lucy heard running footsteps headed in the direction of the alley. She turned her head just as her uncle and Zaeed came running around the corner. They immediately stopped in their tracks at the sight of Tony, still whimpering and lying motion-less on the ground.

After a moment, they seemed to regain their senses and stepped over to Lucy, standing on either side of her to carefully help her to her feet.

She shook her head with a tired laugh as she looked at the confusion still evident on their faces. "What? Did you think Kevin, overprotective brother that he was, never taught me self-defense?" She glanced over at Tony and sighed. "Wish I'd done that a week and a half ago. Could have saved myself a lot of pain. Merry fucking Christmas to me."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thanks for the follows :)**

* * *

"Is this what it feels like to be drunk?" Lucy asked, sitting on a barstool in Hackett's kitchen. "If it is, I don't like it."

Zaeed looked up from plating the pizza they'd picked up on the way back from the hospital. "Never had prescription meds before?"

She shook her head slightly. "No, never had a need for them. Fell off the back of a motorcycle when I was 10, but all I need was a few stitches here," she said, pointing to a long scar on the back of her left forearm. "No prescription pain meds required."

"A motorcycle?" He raised an eyebrow. "Who the bloody hell puts a kid on the back of a motorcycle?"

"Kevin." She folded her arms on the counter and rested her head on them. "It was pretty soon after he'd moved back home, after Mom died. He and Dad got into a huge fight over something and Kevin stormed out, decided he needed to go for a ride to clear his head."

Zaeed shook his head and muttered _irresponsible bastard_ and a few choice curses under his breath before he said, "And he took you along because..."

"Because I asked him to." She sighed. "Back then, Dad stayed home to get drunk and I hated it. That fight was the first emotion I'd seen out of him other than depression in a long time and I didn't want to be around to see what he looked like as an angry drunk." She shook her head. "It wasn't Kevin's fault, Z. I was a master of the puppy dog pout and he was incapable of saying no to me. So will you please stop trying to think of ways to resurrect him just so you can maim him for it?"

He rolled his eyes as he rounded the counter, carrying a plate in each hand. "I make no promises."

He noticed she was somewhat unsteady on her feet as she followed him into the living room before she collapsed face-first on the couch.

He put the plates down and sat on the coffee table, looking at her with concern. "You okay?"

She turned her head and gave him a small smile. "I'm just tired. It's been a... long day and it's past my bedtime."

It was lie and they both knew it. It was much more than just being tired, but it was obvious she didn't want to talk about it so he left it alone. For the moment.

"You need to eat. Otherwise, that _drunk_ feeling is only gonna get worse and you'll wake up with a goddamn hangover."

She sighed melodramatically as she slowly sat up. "Fine, have it your way. On one condition."

"What's that?" he asked, handing her a plate.

She took the plate and looked him in the eye. "Don't leave when I go to sleep."

He moved to sit next to her on the couch. "I'm not going anywhere until I know you're okay."

"Then you may be here for awhile," she said quietly, picking at a piece of sausage on her pizza.

He leaned over and gently pressed his lips to her forehead. "That is not a problem."

* * *

"Anybody home?" Hackett called when he finally trudged through the front door. He frowned when he didn't get a response. He was sure he'd heard voices in the living room. "Hello?"

He walked down the hall and into the living room to find that the voices he'd heard were from the TV. _Blasto Saves Christmas_? He shook his head. No wonder it appeared both Lucy and Zaeed were asleep. He didn't know anyone over the age of six who could stand to watch the whole thing. As he sat in the recliner and found the remote to change the channel, he heard a muttered "Oh thank God" from the couch.

Zaeed shifted carefully to avoid waking Lucy and looked over at Hackett. "If I had to listen to one more minute of that bloody hanar saying _this one will bring peace_, I was going to lose my goddamn mind." He raised an eyebrow. "What happened with Tony?"

Hackett switched off the TV and turned to face the couch. "That slimy son of a bitch tried to claim she attacked him without any provocation whatsoever." He tossed the remote aside. "When we made him watch the security tapes from the alley, he claimed they must have been doctored. I swear, I nearly slugged him."

"Why the hell didn't you?" Zaeed growled.

"Didn't need to. His father did it for me." Hackett shook his head. "Let me tell you, I have _never _seen someone go from a look of arrogance to pure fear so fast as Tony did when Major Carlson stepped into that room."

Zaeed looked skeptical.

"The Major was a SpecOps agent after the war. I suspect that's where Tony learned how to manipulate people." Hackett held up a hand when Zaeed started to speak. "But I have no idea why he would have ever thought to use those _skills_ in his personal relationships. Because obviously it wasn't just with Lucy. He uses his friends as well."

"He could have easily learned that at home." Zaeed sounded bitter, as if he were speaking from personal experience.

Hackett shook his head. "I never knew Tony until the first time Lucy brought him home from work one day, but I've known his parents for probably fifteen years. The Carlsons have one of the happiest and healthiest marriages I've ever seen, especially in a military setting."

"You never know what goes on behind closed doors." Zaeed clenched his jaw for a moment and then glanced back at Hackett. "So? What's actually going to happen to the jackass?"

"He's not leaving the brig anytime soon, that much I know for certain." Hackett frowned. "Are you all right?"

"Fine. Why?"

"No reason." Hackett sighed heavily as he stood up. "I'm going to bed. I assume you're staying?"

Zaeed looked surprised for a moment before nodding once. "I promised Lucy I wouldn't leave until I knew she was okay."

"Good."

"I'm sorry, did you just say _good_?"

Hackett raised an eyebrow. "Did you _want_ me to say something else? Look, Lucy likes and trusts you. Hell if I can figure out _why_, but the fact that she does is enough for me." He narrowed his eyes at the mercenary. "Break that trust and I will break _you_."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Thanks for the review and follow :)**

* * *

The first week back at school had been fun if a little stressful and Lucy was looking forward to the weekend. Zaeed had helped her move back into her dorm and then gone down to Mexico for a _job_ but said he'd be back in town before the end of the week if all went well.

She hadn't dwelt on what he might have meant by any part of that statement.

Friday morning, he'd sent her a message saying he was done and would be back in Texas that night. Now she was nervously rifling through her closet, trying to find the perfect outfit to wear to dinner, with her roommate providing commentary, as usual.

"This seems very _familiar_." Lucy could hear the concern in Brandi's voice.

She finally stepped out of the closet in a blue short-sleeve sweater dress and gray leggings. "In that I'm going on a date you mean? Yes, sweetie. People _do_ that."

Brandi sighed. "First of all, you swore up and down that last time it wasn't a date. Second of all-"

"Second of all, nothing," Lucy snapped. She sat down on her bed to awkwardly pull on a pair of black knee-high boots. It had been a little over three weeks and she still wasn't all that great at doing things with the cast on her hand. "Zaeed is not Tony. Period."

"Are you sure?"

Lucy didn't hesitate with her answer. "Yes."

A knock on the door interrupted whatever Brandi's reply would have been. She got up to answer it and inhaled sharply.

Lucy looked up and saw why. Zaeed was standing in the doorway wearing a white dress shirt, dark-wash jeans and black motorcycle boots.

_Damn._

Brandi took a step towards him. "Hi. I'm Brandi. You must be-"

"Not available for questioning," Lucy growled, quickly pocketing her pain meds as she grabbed her leather jacket and walked to the door. "I'll be back later. Behave. And don't drink too much. I won't be here to hold your hair if you start puking again."

Brandi rolled her eyes. "Yes, mother."

* * *

"So where are we going?" Lucy asked as she looped her arm through Zaeed's while they waited for a skycab.

He shrugged. "Your choice, sweetheart. This is your town."

"Actually, _my_ town is thirty miles that way," she said, gesturing off towards the east. She laughed when he rolled his eyes at her. "But I won't make you go that far for dinner. There's a great little Italian place not far from here."

* * *

_Text Chat_

_From: Lucy_

_To: Brandi_

_20:48 L: This is not going well._

_20:50 B: Why? What's wrong?_

_20:51 L: Your dads._

_20:52 B: What? Oh shit._

_20:53 L: Yeah. We ran into them at Cafe Bella._

_20:54 L: Our date has turned into an interrogation._

_20:55 B: I am so sorry._

_20:56 B: They mean well, they've just been cops so long, they don't know how to turn it off._

_20:56 B: Plus they like you._

_20:58 L: I know they mean well. But... Zaeed isn't exactly what you'd call law enforcement-friendly._

_20:59 L: He avoids interacting with them whenever possible. He does seem to be holding his own for now though._

_21:02 B: Just be thankful you're not their daughter, bringing home your first date at 16._

_21:03 L: Considering I started dating Tony when I was 16, I'm kinda wishing I had been._

_21:04 B: Fair point._

_21:04 B: Tell them you're late for a movie or something. They'll back off. Probably._

_21:05 L: Thanks._

_21:07 L: We are almost late for our movie. We switched times because of how long it took us to even get seated here. So um... I may not be back tonight._

_21:09 B: If you want to get out of that restaurant within the next millennium, don't mention that to them._

_21:10 L: Duh._

_21:11 B: And be good. _

_21:11 L: You too. I'll see you tomorrow._

_21:13 User Has Disconnected. _

* * *

With a well-timed "emergency text" from Brandi, Lucy and Zaeed were finally able to escape the interrogation and just made it to the movie on time. But it turned out not to matter; the movie was dull and they left halfway through.

"Wait just a fucking second." Lucy narrowed her eyes at Zaeed as their skycab pulled up in front of an apartment building twenty minutes later. "You _live_ here? I thought you were staying in a hotel."

He shook his head with a laugh at her indignation. "I have an apartment, but no, I don't live here. I have an apartment or a safe house in several cities on Earth and a few other places."

"So where _do_ you live?" she asked as they rode the elevator to the fourth floor.

"I..." He frowned. He'd never thought about it. He hadn't really ever stayed in one place for long; even the Suns moved their base too often to ever really settle into one. "I don't know," he admitted after a moment. "I go wherever a job takes me. If I find myself coming back to a city often enough or staying there long enough, I'll buy a place."

The elevator stopped on his floor and they walked in silence to his apartment.

He turned to her before opening the door. "I haven't been here in awhile, a few months at least. I need to check to –"

"To make sure there's no bad guys hiding in the closet or under the bed?" she interrupted with a smirk.

He rolled his eyes. "Yes." He punched in the code and the door slid open. "Stay. I'll be back in a minute." He silenced her next comment with a kiss. "I know you're more than capable of taking care of yourself. Just... I don't want to see you get hurt on my watch, okay?"

She nodded and he went inside. He came back five minutes later to find her leaning up against the wall across from his door, twirling and twisting a butterfly knife between the fingers of her uninjured hand.

"No bad guys?"

He shook his head. "Where'd you get the knife?"

She raised an eyebrow. "You don't remember? You gave it to me for Christmas."

"I did? I –"

"A year ago." She folded the knife and stowed it in her boot as she pushed off the wall and walked into the apartment.

"Right." He remembered giving her a knife, he just hadn't recognized it. He also remembered giving her a few lessons on how to use it most effectively. Apparently, she'd been practicing since then. "How long you been carrying that thing?" he asked as he locked the door behind him.

"Since the day you decided I'd learned enough not to accidentally stab myself."

He helped her take her jacket off and tossed it on a chair. "I taught you well then."

He didn't like the glint in her eyes when she said, "Let's find out how much I remember."

He shook his head. "I'm going on record to say that this is a _bad_ idea."

"That's not a no, Massani," she said, pulling the knife out of her boot but leaving it closed. "I promise not to hurt you _too_ much."

_Bloody infuriating woman._

"All right," he growled as he cracked his neck. "Let's do this."

Five minutes later, Zaeed was in a daze, lying flat on his back, wondering where the hell Lucy had learned _that_ move. Clearly he'd been duped.

She collapsed on the floor beside him and answered his questioning look with one word. "Kevin."

Of course. He should have known. Kevin had taught her self-defense and how to handle a gun. The basics of it anyway. It followed to reason he would have taught her how to use a goddamn knife.

"So why did you fake your way through all those lessons? You clearly didn't need me to teach you anything."

She rolled over on her side and traced her fingers along the scar that took up most of his right cheek. "I thought it was obvious," she said after a moment. "It was the only way I could think of to spend a lot of time with you without Uncle Steven going all bug-eyed, since I was underage at the time."

He tugged her closer so she was curled up against him. "I seem to recall he was still less than pleased."

"That was a _little_ about you because he just doesn't like you." She laid her head on his chest. "But I think he was also afraid that if I ended up liking weapons too much, I'd skip out on going to college and join the Alliance after graduation."

"Would that really have been such a bad thing?"

"In his eyes, yes. He saw what it did to my dad, to Kevin. He didn't want me to end up like them. And to be honest, I didn't either. Especially my dad."

Zaeed sat up and leaned against the side of the couch, pulling her with him so she ended up sitting in his lap. "So what changed your mind about joining?"

He couldn't believe it had taken him this long to actually ask that question. She'd sent him a message the day after New Year's saying that she'd gone to the recruitment office on Arcturus, with the proviso that she wouldn't go to boot camp until after the end of the semester. She still needed time for her hand to heal properly.

"If I'm honest, it's been awhile coming. I didn't want to skip college altogether, so I went along with it, but my heart wasn't in it anymore. I didn't want to be an historian. I wanted to help people and the best way I could do that was join the Alliance."

"So, you want to be _in_ the history books, not write them."

She grinned. "Something like that."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Thanks for the comments, follows and favs :)**

* * *

Lucy was more than a little thankful that she'd had the foresight to spend all of her free time during spring semester in the gym. She knew she wouldn't have lasted long, if at all, at boot camp otherwise. She'd always had an athletic build, born of years playing softball back on Mindoir. But most of the others in her recruit class outweighed her by at least 30 pounds.

She'd made _no_ friends among her fellow recruits. They all thought she was pretentious because she didn't drink and spent her down time trying to finish her college education. She'd given up trying to explain _why_ she didn't drink.

It also didn't help that she was top of the class in just about everything. The male recruits seemed especially affronted that a _girl_ could out-shoot them, particularly with sniper rifles. But Lucy suspected if it had been one of the _other_ female recruits who'd beaten their scores, the guys wouldn't have batted a fucking eyelash. They'd probably have thought it was sexy.

* * *

_From: Lucy_

_To: Uncle Steven_

_Subj: I'm Fine_

_You can stop worrying all the time. Seriously. Stop it. It's annoying._

_But thanks for the cookies. Still didn't help me make any friends but that just meant more goodies for me._

_See you in a couple of weeks for graduation?_

_-Lucy_

* * *

_From: Lucy_

_To: Zaeed_

_Subj: Graduation_

_If you have any feelings for me at all, you will make sure you're at my boot camp graduation. I am going to hunt you down if you make me spend the entire time with Uncle Steven._

_-Lucy_

* * *

_From: Zaeed_

_To: Lucy_

_Subj: re: Graduation_

_Yeah, I'll be there. Got a couple of bounties to square away, but they won't take long. I'll be back in plenty of time. God forbid you have to talk to other people._

_-Z_

* * *

Hackett surprised Lucy at graduation by bringing the Moreaus along; Jeff had even gotten a pass from flight school to attend as well.

"Looks like I wasn't entirely necessary after all," Zaeed said with a wink as he wrapped his arms around her. "Guess I'll just –"

She lightly tugged on his hair and pulled him down into a heated kiss. "Don't you fucking dare."

"Oi, Hilary doesn't need to see you two going at it like animals." She pulled away and turned to see Jeff walking over with a little girl toddling along beside him.

She raised an eyebrow and shook her head. "_Going at it like animals_? Does your mother know you talk like that around your baby sister?" She crouched down in front of the three-year-old. "You remember me, cutie?"

Hilary nodded. "Loothie."

"That's right." Lucy noticed Hilary's eyes widen as she looked at a point behind her. She followed the girl's gaze and grinned. "And that's Zaeed."

"Zeed." She leaned forward to whisper in Lucy's ear. "Is he your boyfriend?"

It wasn't a _quiet_ whisper.

Lucy smiled as she glanced back up at Zaeed. "Yes."

Hilary seemed to be considering both of them carefully. Finally she asked, "Are you gon' marry him?"

Jeff coughed to cover his laughter as Zaeed choked on his drink and Lucy blushed furiously. It was a long moment before she found her voice again. "I don't –"

"_There_ you are." Mrs. Moreau was walking across the courtyard. She took Hilary by the hand. "Come on, little one. It's time for your nap."

Hilary dug in her feet and complained loudly as her mother dragged her towards a skycab, Jeff following close behind.

"I am so sorry," Lucy said quietly, looking at the ground in front of her instead of at Zaeed. "She wasn't this chatty last time I went home. To me anyway."

He held out a hand to help her up and wrapped his arms around her. "Nothing to be sorry for, sweetheart."

"I just... we haven't been dating that long, only a few months," she said, still not looking at him. "It's _way_ too soon to think about that. We haven't even said –"

He stopped her rambling with another kiss. She was relieved; she hated talking about _feelings_, but usually once she got started, she couldn't stop.

She leaned her head against his chest. "Thank you."

"You have any time off before you head out?" he asked after they'd stood in silence for a few minutes.

"Couple of days, yeah. Why?"

Before he could answer, Hackett and Anderson joined them and the topic turned to what she could expect at Officer Candidate School.

* * *

_From: Jeff Moreau_

_To: Lucy Shepard_

_Subj: My Sister_

… _is still asking inappropriate questions about you and Massani. My parents are less than amused._

_I'm sorry about that by the way. Hope things didn't go all awkward for you after that._

_Anyway, good luck at OCS. _

_-J_

* * *

Officer training was no less frustrating friendship-wise than boot camp had been, but Lucy didn't care anymore. Everyone was too busy to socialize during the week anyway, and they all made themselves pretty scarce at the weekends.

For her part, Lucy spent nearly all of her free time with Zaeed. Where Tony had been a bully, pushing her to do whatever _he_ wanted to do when he wanted to do it, Zaeed was unbelievably patient. He was content just to be with her, not be _seen_ with her. The more time they spent together, the less afraid she became of whatever might be in their future. Even marriage. Eventually.

* * *

_From: Lucy_

_To: Zaeed_

_Subj: Shore Leave_

_I've finally got real shore leave, that's longer than two days. Two whole weeks before I head to my first post, a patrol unit out near the border with the Terminus._

_Since I know I likely won't get any more time off for awhile, and therefore will miss the 5 year anniversary, I'm heading to Mindoir for a couple of days first. Let me know when you're free, if you want to do anything after that. Otherwise, I'll probably be at my uncle's place the rest of the two weeks, staying as far from Hilary Moreau as possible._

_-Lucy_


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: thanks for the follow :)**

* * *

"Are you certain this is something she wants?" Hackett asked, not for the first time.

"I don't..." Zaeed absently rubbed the scar on his face. "We've talked before, in very broad terms and far off dates, about possibly getting married someday. But no, I don't know for certain that she will say yes."

"And have you told her about you and Vido?"

"No. I just... never found the right time. That's not exactly something someone brings up in the course of a normal conversation."

"You have to tell her. You realize being married to you would put a huge target on her back, right?"

"I know. Just being in a relationship up to this point has done that." Zaeed raised an eyebrow. "Does that mean you give your blessing?"

"Whether I _bless_ it or not is irrelevant. Lucy is going to do or not do whatever the hell she wants in her personal life." The Admiral shook his head. "First time she ever mentioned your name, when you sent that e-mail after the attack on Mindoir, I tried to discourage her from talking to you." He sighed. "Clearly, that worked _exceptionally_ well."

Zaeed crossed his arms and said nothing.

"I wasn't wrong about Tony and she's told me on several occasions that she wished she'd listened to my warnings about him. But I _was_ wrong about you. Don't make me regret saying that."

* * *

_From: __Lucy_

_To: __Zaeed_

_Subj: __re: __Elysium_

_Since __I'm being __forced__ to take shore leave before I__'m allowed to__ even __think__ about __trying the __N3 __course__, Elysium sounds perfect. I've always wanted to go there, never got the chance. It was actually supposed to be my next posting, before I got tagged for Rio._

_This will be fun!_

_-L_

* * *

Zaeed had originally suggested Elysium because he had a bounty to finish there. He'd hoped to be done with it by the time Lucy arrived, but it was another couple of days before it was finished. She didn't seem to mind though, spending the time exploring the city, quickly picking out the places she would have frequented if she'd been stationed there.

With the bounty behind him, Zaeed knew there was no point in delaying. He knew he was going to have to tell her about his past before they made _any_ plans for their future.

It was _now or never_ when she grew suspicious that he'd elected to cook for her instead of ordering in.

"Sit." He grabbed her hand and gently pulled her down next to him on the couch. "There's something we need to talk about."

"Okay." She started chewing on her bottom lip the way she always did whenever she was anxious about something.

He instinctively reached out a hand and pulled her lip free with his thumb. "It's nothing bad, I promise. Nothing bad to do with _us_ anyway."

She frowned and brought a hand up to cover his. "What the hell is going on, Zaeed?"

"You ever heard of Vido Santiago?"

She nodded. "Head of the Blue Suns. We got a briefing on all the major mercenary gangs when I was posted out near the Terminus. Why?"

"There's... something I want to ask you." He brought her hand up to his lips and laid a kiss on each knuckle. "But before I do, I think it's long past time you knew the goddamn truth about my past."

"So what Uncle Steven told me about you wasn't true?"

"It _was_ the truth, but so bloody glossed over I barely recognized it." He squeezed her hand once before he got up and began pacing. "That wasn't his fault though. No one who wasn't actually a part of the Suns at the time knows the whole truth. And all but two of us are dead now."

"You and... Vido?"

He nodded. "We didn't join the Alliance for some higher purpose, to help people, like you, or because it was _family tradition_, like Kevin. Vido and I were bloody street rats. It's just what you _do_. You either join the Alliance or join a gang."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah yeah, the irony's not lost on me, believe me. Some make it, thrive on the structure of military life and all, like your uncle. 'Course he had more structure growing up anyway, because he had your mum looking out for him. But that wasn't me and Vido. We'd been on our own since before we knew how to tie our goddamn bootlaces, and we liked it that way."

"Why'd you join the Alliance instead of an existing gang?"

He shrugged. "We hadn't necessarily ruled out gang life, obviously, but we'd been dodging the likes of the 10th Street Reds for years. We wouldn't have lasted long with the Reds, 'specially Vido. And we wanted to get off of Earth, but we needed money to do it. Hell, we made it a whole year, which is more than a lot of people can say. Some don't even make it through boot camp."

She groaned. "Don't remind me of that hell hole."

"You survived and came out on top –"

"With no friends."

"You were in with a lot of judgmental idiots. You don't want friends like them, sweetheart."

She rolled her eyes. "I know, I know. Continue."

"Anyway, we'd had our plan from the beginning, before we ever set foot on Alliance training grounds. Eventually, Vido started gauging who might be up for joining us when we decided our time was up." He sighed heavily before he added, "like Kevin."

She frowned. "But Kevin _always_ said he left the Alliance because Mom died."

"That was why he left _when_ he did. But before she got sick, he'd been making plans to leave months later with us."

"Oh." She was quiet for a long while and Zaeed worried that he'd pushed her too far. Finally, she said, "You mentioned before that only you and Vido know what happened between you, that everyone else involved is dead. What happened to them?"

He sighed. "The ones who were still loyal to me, Vido killed 'em all. The rest, the ones who sided with him outright and especially those of my own goddamn men that he paid off to fucking betray me," he clenched his fists so hard, he could feel his nails digging into his palms, "I hunted those bastards down myself."

He saw the troubled look on her face and suddenly realized why she'd asked.

_Shit._

"Don't think about it." He sat beside her again and took her hands in his. "It doesn't matter now whose side he'd have taken." He shook his head. "Wish I'd never brought it up in the first place."

"Why _did_ you?" She narrowed her eyes. "What's this sudden obsession with my knowing every little detail about the past?"

"Look, I should have told you a long time ago, at the beginning of our relationship, if not before, so you'd know what the hell you were getting into."

"That's not an answer, Z. Or at least it's not an answer to the question I asked." She hesitated a moment before she moved over to sit in his lap. "What's going on?"

He reached up and tucked a stray curl of jet black hair behind her ear. "I'm telling you all this now because I wanted you to know all the facts before I asked you to marry me."

"You... are you..." Her eyes went wide as she stared at him. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Yes." He leaned in to kiss her gently as he opened a drawer on the side table and took out the small velvet box he'd put there the day he'd arrived. "Lucy Shepard, will you –"

A massive explosion suddenly rocked the building. Zaeed quickly wrapped his arms around Lucy and tucked her head against his chest as they were thrown from the couch and landed a few feet away.

"You all right?" he asked as the dust settled and they got to their feet.

She nodded. "What the hell was that?"

"Slavers or pirates would be my guess."

"Fucking batarians," she grumbled, checking the guns he tossed her from the weapons locker in the corner of the room.

"You ready?"

"Let's do this." She turned and kissed him before they reached the front door. "By the way, my answer to your unfinished question? Yes."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Thanks for the follows and fav :)**

**Trigger Warning: mentions of child abuse**

* * *

Lucy had received a flurry of e-mails from various people after the attack on Elysium; most were from complete strangers who had watched the various ceremonies on TV afterward. But some were from friends like Jeff and Brandi, a few from military acquaintances like her boot camp and officer training instructors as well as Commander Anderson. She'd even received a message from Tony's father, which she thought was _strange_. Until she read it.

_From: Major Carlson  
To: Lt. Shepard  
Subj: Your Victory on Elysium  
Surprise, babe... even in the brig, us lowly prisoners heard about Elysium. Me? I was rooting for the batarians, hoping they'd wreck that pretty face of yours. Too bad really. Then you'd match with that fucking interfering bastard you keep around for protection.  
Watch your back, babe. I'll be out before long, and Massani can't always be around.  
-Tony_

"You won't be out as soon as you think, you smug jackass," she muttered as she forwarded a copy of the e-mail to both her uncle _and_ Major Carlson. She figured the Major might like to know his extranet account had been hacked.

"What's that?" Zaeed asked, looking over her shoulder as she hit _send_.

"Just Tony trying, and failing, to scare me." She leaned back against her fiancé as he wrapped his arms around her. What Tony didn't understand, and probably never would, was that she felt _safe_ with Zaeed, but she didn't _keep him around for protection_. She could take care of herself. And Zaeed knew that, understood it and respected it. Even so, they both knew she'd gotten lucky that day in the alley. If she'd hesitated for even a second, things could have gone sideways and very wrong.

"You sure the account was hacked?" he asked, reading the note she had attached to the forwarded copy.

She shrugged. "I don't have any reason to believe otherwise." She glanced over her shoulder and saw the hard set of his jaw. She raised an eyebrow as she turned to face him. "Do you?"

"I don't know if it was hacked or if the Major intentionally gave Tony access to his account, but..." He shook his head. "There's just something _off_ about the whole thing."

"What do you mean?" She frowned. "Major Carlson would never –"

"Abusive assholes like Tony don't just one day decide they're going to be that way," he said gruffly. "It's learned from years of having it done to them or watching it happening to someone else."

She could see the pain in his eyes, memories from long ago, that told her he wasn't speaking hypothetically, but from experience.

"Is that what happened to you?" she asked quietly.

He shook his head. "It wasn't my parents, if that's what you mean. Dad was never in the picture and mum died when I was a baby. I grew up in an orphanage. Or that's what it _appeared_ to be, to outsiders. To the bitch who ran it, it was more like a bloody workhouse. I don't even remember what we supposedly made there. What I do remember is what happened at the end of every day. If we did everything we were supposed to, we got food. If not, we got a beating, from one of the other kids." He was quiet for several minutes before he spoke again. "When a kid reached a certain age, they were given the option to begin _training_. How to give a proper beating or some bullshit like that." He sighed. "One day when I was about six I guess it was, I was put in a group and asked if I wanted to be one of those who handed out beatings."

"And that's why you ran away?"

"That was part of it, yeah. I didn't want to end up like them. Though it also had a lot to do with the fact that I wasn't going to stick around to find out what happened after the guy that was supposed to _train_ us... ended up dead."

Her eyes went wide. "Did you... have anything to do with it?"

The muscle in his jaw jumped before he answered, "Not solely, but yes. Vido too. 'S how we became friends, really."

"What happened to the 'orphanage,' to the woman that ran it?" she asked hesitantly.

"We heard rumors a couple of years after we left that the place had finally closed down. But that was _all_ we heard. Dunno if she finally got caught somehow, or maybe the whole lot of them snapped and killed her." His eyes lit up briefly at the thought. "Wouldn't surprise me though if she'd just up and moved the whole goddamn operation somewhere else," he added bitterly.

Lucy's heart ached at the thought of all the pain Zaeed had been through in his life. Her life had been a damn fairy tale by comparison. She thought of all the times she'd complained about some little something and –

A loud and persistent knocking on the front door brought her out of her reverie. She looked over at Zaeed and he shrugged.

"I didn't order anything," he said, walking toward the door, Lucy on his heels. He frowned at the image on the security camera, of a young man in Alliance fatigues, looking _very_ nervous. "Punk don't look old enough to be in bloody uniform."

Lucy rolled her eyes and slid the door open. "Can I help you?"

"L-l-lieutenant S-shepard?," the kid finally managed to squeak out. "F-from the.. erm... I mean... from Admiral H-hackett. Ma'am." He snapped a salute before he practically threw a data pad at her and fled down the hall.

Zaeed raised an eyebrow as she came back inside and closed the door. "An adoring fan?"

"Nah, probably just scared of Uncle Steven. The new ones always are." She looked at the data pad and immediately went to the terminal in the living room to sent a hail to her uncle. "What the hell is this?" she asked when he finally answered.

"What is what?" he asked, his face the picture of innocence.

"_Congratulations. We have determined that your actions during the Skyllian Blitz equaled or surpassed those needed to pass the N3 course of the Interplanetary Combatives Training Academy. Report to Villa Militar within a fortnight to __receive your instructions for the__ N4 course_," she quoted from the data pad in her hand. She narrowed her eyes at him when she'd finished reading. "Did you have anything to do with this?"

"Absolutely not. What would make you think I did?"

"Because the kid who nearly shit his pants delivering the damn thing mentioned that it was from you."

"Ah." His attempt to suppress a smile failed. "I had received the orders myself and had planned to forward them to you but the young corporal was very eager to meet you and –"

"Told you," Zaeed muttered in her ear.

She turned to glare at him. "Bite me." She turned back to Hackett. "Wait. If you had nothing to do with the decision, then why would they send the orders to you instead of directly to me?"

"They'd already made the decision to advance you past N3; they just wanted to know if I thought you were ready to go now or if you needed time off to heal after the Blitz."

"Because clearly you have the medical training to determine that."

He ignored her comment. "You've taken the time off they _recommended_ before you were allowed to continue in the first place, so as far as I'm concerned, it's up to you."

"Thank you. I'll probably leave in the next couple of days. I'll let them know when I'm on my way."

"Good. Now about the message you forwarded to me earlier..."

_Shit._ She'd nearly forgotten about Tony's message. "What about it?"

"I passed it along to the warden and he said he'd already received it from Major Carlson as well."

She glanced back at Zaeed, who only shrugged in response.

"The warden said they'll be restricting Tony's _activities_ for awhile," Hackett continued.

Zaeed growled. "Any chance he'll be out and away from Arcturus anytime soon so I can _shoot_ him?"

"No."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Thanks for the follows :)**

* * *

_Inter-Relay Text Chat_

_Location: Unknown_

_From: Lucy_

_To: Zaeed_

_02:32 L: Hey you._

_02:36 Z: Well well. Wondered if you were ever coming back to civilization._

_02:38 L: I was busy._

_02:39 Z: So I hear._

_02:42 L: Ran into a 'friend' of yours while I was playing soldier._

_02:43 Z: I don't have friends, sweetheart._

_02:44 L: I know. That's why I said 'friend'... it was Vido._

_02:46 Z: You ok? Where the bloody hell were you?_

_02:48 L: Somewhere in the Terminus, that's all I know. He's long gone though._

_02:49 L: And yes, I'm fine. Got a little (lot) singed in an explosion but otherwise ok._

_02:50 Z: An explosion?_

_02:52 L: We were sent to clear out a Blue Suns base. That's why I don't know where I was, it was all secret, etc._

_02:53 L: Anyway, we were in a heavy firefight; one of my squad missed his target and hit the fuel tank the idiot was standing in front of. Set off a chain reaction._

_02:54 Z: Christ. You still passed your test?_

_02:56 L: Yeah. It was supposed to be a test of leadership skills or something. They said 'The team leader was not at fault for the destruction of the building; her actions under extreme pressure were exemplary...' blah blah blah_

_02:57 Z: What happened to the fucker who set off the explosion?_

_02:59 L: He'll be in the hospital for... awhile. But he'll be ok. Probably._

_03:03 L: I just wanted to let you know I had a Vido sighting. My first, but I'm sure it wasn't my last._

_03:04 Z: He may not still be there, but it's as damn good a place to start as any. _

_03:05 L: Also, my last test is... long. Like several months long. Just thought I'd let you know so you don't worry._

_03:06 Z: I always worry, Luce._

_03:07 L: Yeah, yeah. You sound like Uncle Steven all of a sudden._

_03:08 Z: Bloody wonderful._

_03:10 L: I love you. I'll send you a message the second I can._

_03:11 Z: Be careful. I love you too._

_03:12 User has Disconnected._

* * *

_Six Months Later..._

She'd taken her time in reaching the end, but Lucy had finally achieved N7 status.

The ceremony on Arcturus was short. Only she and two others had graduated. They received their commendations, a couple of speeches were made, and then it was over.

Hackett stood talking with the recently promoted Captain Anderson and a few other senior officers at the reception afterward. He wasn't really paying attention to the conversation however, having drifted away about the time Anderson started recalling, for the umpteenth time, his own graduation many years before.

Instead, the Admiral's attention was focused on Lucy and Zaeed, standing near the bar. He watched as the mercenary leaned in to whisper something in her ear. A moment later, she grinned and jumped into his arms.

Hackett shook his head and sighed as they made their way over to him. He muttered an apology to the group and stood off to the side.

"How long do we have to stay at the reception?" Lucy asked, the grin still plastered on her face.

Hackett raised an eyebrow. "Why? Is there someplace else you need to be?"

"Need? Not especially." Lucy was looking at the ring on her finger, a circle of small white diamonds surrounding a larger blue diamond. "Want? More than anything." She must have noticed the way he was glaring at her _fiancé_ when she looked up as she said, "I... think I'm just gonna go get some drinks. For you two."

"_That_ was your idea of a proposal?" he growled at Zaeed as they watched Lucy walking back to the bar, stopping to talk to one of her fellow N7s along the way.

"Of course not," Zaeed scoffed. "I proposed literally thirty seconds before the goddamn batarians attacked Elysium. After all the crazy died down, we talked some more and decided to wait until she'd finished all this before we actually got married."

"Since I never heard anything else about it after you and I talked, I just assumed that you'd asked and she'd said no but that you'd stayed together anyway." Hackett sighed. "I guess that's why she never told me."

Zaeed nodded. "Too much happening all at once."

"So what are your plans now?" Hackett asked warily. "She's got three weeks' leave before she heads to her next post."

"We're going to Corfu."

"Greece?"

Zaeed nodded. "She wanted to go to the beach, and the place I found is fairly secluded, so she can relax."

"And you? This won't be like Elysium, a _working_ holiday?"

"No. Finished up my last bounty about a week ago. Anyone contacts me in the next three weeks, I'm telling them to bugger off. Lucy's not the only one who needs to relax."

"Fair enough. I take it you're planning to go through with it, get married, before you head to Earth?"

"Yes," Lucy said as she rejoined them. She handed them each a tumbler of scotch, keeping a glass of cranberry juice for herself. "And we wanted to ask you to officiate."

From the way Zaeed was looking at the ceiling as he drank his scotch, it was clear that particular point had been all Lucy's idea, not his.

"If you're absolutely sure this is what you want," Hackett said.

"It is," they said together.


End file.
